Managing Your Practice
42 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 20 ratingsManaging Your Practice is dedicated to providing financial professionals with best practices in key areas such as driving growth, business efficiency, and the client experience. Dimensional Fund Advisors delivers insights based on our history of industry-leading financial advisor benchmark studies and client surveys. We help advisors leverage those insights when making the critical business decisions successful firms face every day.
The information is provided in good faith without any warranty and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, recommendation, or an offer of any services or products for sale and is not intended to provide a sufficient basis on which to make an investment decision.
All expressions of opinion are subject to change.
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is an investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Episodes
Future Proofing your Practice: How to Prepare for Succession and Transactions in a Period of Growth
March 05, 2024 11:30 - 43 minutes - 60.3 MBDavid DeVoe, founder of DeVoe & Co., appropriately nicknamed the "RIA M&A Guru," has spent 15 years helping advisors buy, sell, and merge their firms. With so much to consider in a deal, how are advisors avoiding analysis paralysis when preparing for a transition? Hear from the expert on why you should get purposeful and have a succession plan in place today, what might affect a firm’s value in the current landscape, and how to retain your talent and culture, all while continuing to grow.
Strategic Psychology: Elevating Advisory Excellence through Prioritization and Proactivity
January 29, 2024 19:55 - 54 minutes - 75.6 MBDr. Moira Somers, founder of Money, Mind and Meaning, is a financial psychologist, family wealth consultant, executive coach, and author, specializing in areas like neuroscience and behavioral economics. Her body of work helps financial advisors facilitate follow-through on recommendations and advice to clients. She poses important questions to identify true client priorities, mitigate procrastination, and ensure your firm can operate at a high level without compromising the client experience.
Winning Plays for Advisors from a Harvard Lawyer Turned NFL Coach
December 14, 2023 11:00 - 55 minutes - 76 MBDaron Roberts, founding director of the Center for Sports Leadership & Innovation at the University of Texas, is a Harvard Law School graduate turned NFL coach who now guides students, athletes, and business leaders on stepping outside their comfort zone, practicing discipline, and hiring and managing teams. In this special live episode, hear insights honed on the gridiron that translate to how advisors can approach their own firm’s goals.
Give Them Something to Talk About: Effective Client and Employee Communications
November 17, 2023 11:00 - 54 minutes - 75 MBArabella Macpherson, director of Resonate Communications, turned a passion for acting into a career coaching, mentoring, and training leaders and teams to overcome communication obstacles. She shares her experience in influencing, negotiation, and conflict resolution; ways that advisors can manage difficult conversations with clients and employees; and the impact that communication styles can have on your business.
The Power of Your People: How Employee Experience Impacts the Bottom Line
October 27, 2023 10:00 - 55 minutes - 76.7 MBMichael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work®, has found data-driven ways to connect the dots between human-centered leaders and good business. He shares how a focus on trust in the workplace correlates with business performance, what leaders can do to enhance the employee experience, and insights from his own 30-year career that have had a lasting impact on how he’s approached new roles and leadership positions.
Metrics that Matter: Using Data to Measure What Counts at Advisory Firms
September 22, 2023 10:00 - 45 minutes - 62.6 MBLisa Salvi, Managing Director of Advisor Services at Schwab, manages advisor benchmarking studies that have collected data for over a decade on key business metrics for financial advisory practices. Listen as she shares focus areas for firms to measure and what actually matters for performance. She also discusses how firms differentiate when it comes to those areas with the greatest impact, such as talent, succession planning, referral programs, and value propositions.
Metrics that Matter: Using Data to Measure What Counts at Advisory Firms
September 22, 2023 10:00 - 45 minutes - 62.6 MBLisa Salvi, Managing Director of Advisor Services at Schwab, manages advisor benchmarking studies that have collected data for over a decade on key business metrics for financial advisory practices. Listen as she shares focus areas for firms to measure and what actually matters for performance. She also discusses how firms differentiate when it comes to those areas with the greatest impact, such as talent, succession planning, referral programs, and value propositions.
Smooth Scaling: Navigating the Murky Waters of Hiring, Outsourcing, and Partnerships to Manage Growth
August 25, 2023 10:00 - 42 minutes - 59.1 MBBen Slater of Buckingham Strategic Partners works closely with advisory firms that are near critical growth points and considering outsourcing or partnering to manage the expansion. As you approach the next level of growth, you may ask questions around when to hire, what functions to outsource, and how you can thrive as you grow. Hear how to evaluate cost vs. time, determine where you can relinquish decision-making, and return to the areas of the profession that bring you joy.
What’s in a Dream Team: Key Characteristics of Highly Effective Teams
July 28, 2023 10:00 - 53 minutes - 74.1 MBShandel Sutherland and Liv Olson share more than four decades of combined experience helping build highly effective teams. In this episode, they define key characteristics of those teams, ways to identify gaps in your own firm, and actionable steps to enhance performance. Learn why they believe investing in employee and team development is an essential aspect of achieving long-term success and creating an exceptional client experience in your advisory firm.
“Geeking Out” on the Past, Present, and Future of Finance
June 23, 2023 16:16 - 48 minutes - 66.4 MBRobin Wigglesworth, editor of FT Alphaville and author of Trillions, describes his career as “geeking out” on all things finance, writing to great depths on investing and markets. Hear how he connected with some of the greatest minds in finance to tell the origin story of index funds, his take on integrating corporate cultures through M&A, and what’s next in the evolution of financial advice and incorporating AI. Trillions is included on Dimensional’s 2023 Summer Reading List, which you can ...
The Bionic Advisor: Using Technology to Serve, Scale, and Succeed
May 25, 2023 10:00 - 51 minutes - 70.5 MBNirav Batavia, co–managing partner and chief technology officer of Forum Financial has used technology to build systems and processes that increase efficiency, enhance the employee and client experience, and scale the business, all while maintaining a focus on profitability. He shares his expertise on how advisors can combine technology with human interaction to support growth goals, determine areas of opportunity and improvement, and spend time doing the parts of their job they enjoy most. ...
The Evolution to Ensemble: The Challenges and Rewards of Building a Multiprofessional Firm
April 28, 2023 10:00 - 30 minutes - 42.3 MBMichael Goodman, president of Wealthstream Advisors, founded a lifestyle practice that evolved into a $1 billion ensemble practice after combining the skills of multiple professions and taking on partners to facilitate the firm’s growth over the past three decades. Hear the pros and cons of running an ensemble practice; how hiring, team structure, and business processes transform through the progression; and why it’s important that your long-term goals and motivations match those of your peo...
Referral-Worthy Relationships: Nurturing a Long-Term Mindset Throughout Client Life Stages
April 05, 2023 10:00 - 28 minutes - 39.5 MBPeter Lazaroff, CIO at Plancorp, knew from a young age that he would have a career in investments and wealth management. Now, he helps deliver financial planning advice to clients in various life stages and offers his perspective on how advisors can engage with clients in ways that foster a long-term investment mindset and referability. Hear how he approaches these conversations with clients, solicits feedback on their experience, and his thoughts on the evolution of an advisors’ role. Pet...
Securing Your Legacy through Succession: Tips for Passing an RIA Firm to a Family Member
March 16, 2023 19:00 - 44 minutes - 61.2 MBJoe Stephan of Stephan Independent Advisory experienced a familial succession firsthand when his father passed his advisory firm on to him. The transition left him with a desire to help other advisors in strategically planning for succession, either within the family or externally. He shares key considerations for advisors preparing for succession, the nuances of a transition within a family, and how succession is impacted by the current state of the RIA industry in Australia.
Securing Your Legacy through Succession: Tips for Passing an Advisory Firm to a Family Member
March 16, 2023 19:00 - 44 minutes - 61.2 MBJoe Stephan of Stephan Independent Advisory experienced a familial succession firsthand when his father passed his advisory firm on to him. The transition left him with a desire to help other advisors in strategically planning for succession, either within the family or externally. He shares key considerations for advisors preparing for succession, the nuances of a transition within a family, and how succession is impacted by the current state of the financial advisory industry in Australia.
Going Above and Beyond: How to Capture Clients' Voices to Improve Satisfaction and Engagement
February 17, 2023 11:00 - 43 minutes - 59.4 MBJulie Littlechild, founder and CEO of Absolute Engagement, has spent over 25 years finding ways to measure the client experience in financial advisory firms. She shares how advisors can analyze feedback from clients around engagement and satisfaction to anticipate needs and wants, and ultimately help clients drive business growth through referrals.
Designing a Deal: How Advisory Firm Buyers and Sellers Can Prepare for an M&A Transaction
January 20, 2023 11:00 - 57 minutes - 79.1 MBAllen Darby of Alaris Acquisitions and Jason Carver of Pure Financial Advisors have sat on both sides of the M&A table and experienced some of the recent, record-breaking years of deals done across the wealth management industry. They share their thoughts on when and how to start planning for a deal and searching for a partner, what each side considers deal breakers, and why you should always be prepared to sell. If you are buying, selling, merging, or simply beginning to think about the fu...
Transitions: What Advisors Should Know about Changing Firms, Going Independent, and Planning for Succession
December 14, 2022 22:29 - 47 minutes - 64.9 MBLouis Diamond, of Diamond Consultants, guides advisors through major career transitions like launching RIA firms, scaling independent businesses, and succession planning. He joins Dimensional’s Catherine Williams to discuss how advisors can prepare for movement across the industry, best practices for building a successful advisory firm, and what strategic moves they should consider today.
Cutting Through the Noise: How to Differentiate Your Practice Through Digital Marketing
November 09, 2022 14:24 - 46 minutes - 63.8 MBEmily Binder of Beetle Moment Marketing and Taylor Schulte of Define Financial have both built successful businesses by leveraging digital marketing and technology. Schulte’s advisory firm focuses on attracting their ideal clients through curated digital strategies while Binder’s agency helps advisors grow their practices with new tools and technology like voice marketing. In this podcast, they discuss the latest digital tactics advisors should focus on to differentiate themselves and allow ...
The Five Values That Took an NBA Star from the Basketball Court to the US Senate and Beyond
October 19, 2022 15:33 - 46 minutes - 63.5 MBSenator Bill Bradley is a former professional basketball player, Olympic gold medalist, three-term US Senator, and author of seven books. He shares personal and professional stories on the driving factors and experiences that led him to success. Dimensional’s Catherine Williams leads the discussion on the values Bradley has emphasized throughout his career and how financial advisors can implement those same values to help build a successful team and business.
How Advisors Can Follow the Shift in Wealth and Serve Multigenerational Clients
September 21, 2022 11:00 - 49 minutes - 67.8 MBChip Roame, founder and managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors, joins Dimensional’s Catherine Williams to discuss the shift in wealth from Baby Boomers to Gen X and Millennials. They will cover steps advisory practices can take today to meet the needs of younger investors and win them as long-term clients.
COO Roundtable: Investing in the Future of Your Firm through Your People
August 24, 2022 11:00 - 52 minutes - 72.2 MBCarrie Delgott, Kate Juelfs, and Robert Bowers, three chief operating officers (COOs) from thriving advisory firms, join Catherine Williams to discuss the impact that clarity and flexibility in career pathing and recruiting can have on the employee experience, and why it matters to your business. (Recorded April 22, 2022.)
What’s on Dimensional’s Summer Reading List?
August 03, 2022 11:00 - 28 minutes - 39 MBWe welcome our very own Lisa Dallmer, COO, and David Jones, head of our UK and Ireland Advisor Group, to share their favorite reads, provide personal and professional-development book recommendations, and discuss the impact that reading has had on their careers in financial services and their personal lives. See these books and more on Dimensional’s full 2022 summer reading list here.
Building a Better Advisory Practice Through Diversity and Inclusion
June 22, 2022 11:00 - 51 minutes - 70.4 MBKamila Elliott, board chair of the CFP board and CEO and founder of Collective Wealth Partners, and Kara Duckworth, managing director of client experience at Mercer Advisors, join Dimensional’s Catherine Williams to discuss how their firms are approaching diversity and what it means to not only serve women and other underrepresented investor clients, but also the importance of building a more diverse pool of candidates for financial services professions.
The Five-Step Framework for Growing Your Business Through Deliberate Practice
May 18, 2022 11:00 - 48 minutes - 66.1 MBCraig Wortmann, CEO of Sales Engine and a clinical professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, discusses how top-performing firms may emulate the way elite athletes or musicians enhance performance through deliberate practice. He shares a five-step framework built on purposeful action that may help you become more effective in your role as a financial advisor and business leader.
Connecting the Dots: How to Drive Growth Through Your Culture, People, and Client Experience
April 20, 2022 11:00 - 40 minutes - 55.3 MBInvesting early in the next generation of leaders may be the key to your firm’s longevity, but it can be difficult to balance short-term revenue and profit objectives with long-term business goals. Cameron Passmore, portfolio manager and executive chairman of PWL Capital in Canada, shares from more than 20 years of experience in creating a culture that focuses on both ambition and humility, and emphasizes investing in and developing employees as an integral part of the long-term business plan.
System & Soul: Why Your Practice Needs Both to Thrive
March 22, 2022 11:00 - 41 minutes - 57.2 MBAs a business leader are you focused on the systems or the soul side of your practice? Are you building a team that focuses on both? Benj Miller, co-founder of the business operating framework System & Soul, joins Dimensional’s Catherine Williams to share the six key elements leaders can focus on to support client satisfaction, employee development, and growth in their business. Learn more in Miller’s book The Clarity Field Guide, available at www.clarityfieldguide.com.
Why Leveraging Technology in Your Advisory Firm Has Never Been More Important
February 15, 2022 12:00 - 44 minutes - 60.9 MBAs the world becomes more comfortable with rapid technology advancements, has your firm considered how the client experience is changing as a result? With seemingly endless options, how do you know where to make investments that have a lasting impact? Doug Fritz, CEO of F2 Strategy, joins Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, to discuss areas of technology advisors should consider to support firm growth, and how to determine which ones best fit your unique business n...
Tips for Navigating the Compliance and Regulatory Landscape in 2022
January 19, 2022 15:56 - 46 minutes - 63.4 MBCompliance plays a critical role in financial services, but keeping up with regulations from the SEC, FINRA, and individual states can be overwhelming. How do you ensure that you’re interpreting them correctly? Do you have processes in place to protect your clients and team? Are you prepared if you get audited? Leila Shaver, founder of My RIA Lawyer, joins Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, to discuss compliance concerns and regulatory changes you can prepare for ...
From Intern to CEO: The Roadmap for a Successful Internal Succession Plan
December 08, 2021 13:25 - 46 minutes - 64.6 MBEvery founder of a financial advisory firm will at some point face the question of succession. If looking internally, who is the heir apparent and when should they begin handing over the reins? The process can take years and may be difficult to navigate for the founder and successor. Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, is joined by Eric Hehman, CEO of Austin Asset, to talk about his journey from intern to CEO and the successful succession plan he helped develop alo...
When Less Is More: Getting Clear on Your Strategic Vision and Target Market
November 09, 2021 15:23 - 1 hour - 85.5 MBIn a competitive market, it can be tempting to continuously seek new ways to provide value to clients in order to stand out and grow your firm. But often, these aren’t scalable offerings, and trying to serve more than one niche can allow your ideal clients to slip through the cracks. Michael Kitces, of Buckingham Wealth Partners, joins Catherine Williams to discuss how advisors can build a successful practice by developing a clear vision for their firms and by focusing on financial advice an...
What Three Personality Types Does Your Firm Need to Grow?
October 12, 2021 13:00 - 52 minutes - 71.8 MBIt can take a range of skill sets to start and build a successful financial advisory firm. But whether that firm remains a smaller, lifestyle practice or grows into a larger self-sustaining enterprise can depend on the culture and the right mix of personality types. Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, is joined by Jon Jones, co-founder and CEO of the wealth management firm Brighton Jones, to explore how you can identify, hire, and align the right personalities with...
Keeping an Eye on the Bottom Line: How Your P&L Statement Can Help Guide Your Business Decisions
September 15, 2021 20:16 - 41 minutes - 56.6 MBMost advisors are excellent at evaluating investment options for clients but can fall short in assessing their own financial statements and what they are saying about the health of their businesses. Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, is joined by Philip Palaveev, founder and CEO of The Ensemble Practice, to explore how assessing a firm’s profit and loss (P&L) statement and other financials could possibly be the key to growing faster, achieving greater profitabilit...
What Makes Diamond Teams Shine?
August 17, 2021 14:58 - 35 minutes - 48.8 MBMany advisory practices use the popular “diamond team” structure to expand their capacity, add more clients, and effectively service those clients. But how do you implement a diamond team, and is it right for your organization? Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, is joined by Angie Herbers, founder and managing partner of Herbers and Company and originator of the diamond team concept. They discuss how having the right people in the right roles can create a high-fun...
Gold Medal Advice on Finding Your Niche and Engaging with Your Ideal Clients
July 20, 2021 16:00 - 35 minutes - 48.7 MBHow do you differentiate yourself in a competitive market and build a profitable practice working with the types of clients that you want to help? Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, is joined by four-time Olympian Lauryn Williams of Worth Winning to discuss her path from gold medal-winning athlete to financial planner focused on offering advice and education to an underserved market segment.
Retaining and Rewarding Talent Through Internal Equity Transactions
June 14, 2021 19:37 - 28 minutes - 39.2 MBSharing equity can help attract and retain talented team members, create a clear succession plan, and help de-risk ownership for advisory firms. But what’s the best way to price and distribute equity to meet a firm’s strategic objectives? John Furey of Advisor Growth Strategies joins Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, to discuss current trends in compensation and equity planning.
Four Strategies for Becoming an Elite Financial Advisor
April 19, 2021 19:36 - 38 minutes - 52.3 MBAs founder and CEO of CEG Worldwide, John Bowen has spent decades coaching thousands of elite advisors. So what separates top financial advisors from the rest? In this conversation with Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, John shares the four business development strategies that he believes all elite advisors should follow. As an added bonus, you can visit www.cegworldwide.com/fasttrack to receive a complimentary copy of John’s book “Become the Expert the Wealthy W...
Applying Lessons from 2020 to Grow Your Business Today
March 15, 2021 21:16 - 45 minutes - 62.7 MBIn 2020, we learned the importance of developing a team that can deliver value to your clients while implementing a systematic growth plan to guide the future of your business. Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, is joined by Stacy Francis of Francis Financial and Dave Welty of Avier Wealth Advisors to discuss how they approach their unique market niches and use social media and other tools to drive growth in their businesses.
Creating Long-Term Value in Your Business Through Human Capital
February 16, 2021 16:21 - 42 minutes - 58.5 MBManaging the culture and shared values of your organization is a key element of driving employee development and ultimately the long-term value of your business. In a virtual environment, goals-based management can help you deepen engagement with your teams and prioritize the values that create results. Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, is joined by J.D. Bruce of Abacus Wealth and Stacey McKinnon of Morton Capital to discuss how they successfully manage human cap...
Five Actions Advisors Can Take Today to Position Their Firms for a Successful Merger, Acquisition, or Sale
January 13, 2021 17:00 - 43 minutes - 59.8 MBDespite the challenges of 2020, the year closed with M&A activity at a record-setting pace and no signs of slowing going into 2021. Whether advisors are interested in selling all or a portion of their businesses, there are important steps they can begin to take today to help maximize their valuation in the future and ensure they find the right partner. Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, is joined by Scott Slater of Fidelity Institutional to discuss M&A trends and ...
Keeping Employees Happy and Engaged in a Virtual Environment
December 15, 2020 13:00 - 43 minutes - 59.5 MBOrganizations with a high level of employee engagement also tend to have higher morale, higher retention, and a better client experience. With more people working remotely than ever before, how are successful firms retaining, developing, and effectively engaging with employees in a virtual environment? Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, welcomes Shannon O’Toole of Shannon O’Toole Coaching to discuss best practices for employee retention and engagement in 2020 and ...
Buying, Selling, or Merging: Advisors’ Perspectives on Mergers and Acquisitions
November 18, 2020 16:54 - 33 minutes - 45.5 MBWhether you’re seeking an external partner for the purpose of retirement, succession planning, or taking your business to the next level, the merger and acquisition (M&A) process can be daunting for any advisory firm. How do you find the right partner? How do you ensure a good cultural fit for your staff and your clients? What does integration entail post transaction? Catherine Williams, Dimensional’s Head of Practice Management, is joined by Susan Strausbaugh of Buckingham Strategic Wealth ...